chrysler lockheed type 16 front brake adjustment

[blueskies]

Not sure what is different between the 1950 and 1955 brakes, as all of my experience is with my '50 Plymouth.  It's my humble opinion that the only way to get the brakes adjusted correctly is to find (or fabricate) the brake guage.

I found that when adjusting my brakes, that the minor adjustment affected the major adjustment, and vice-versa.  It took several rounds of adjusting both major and minor to get them perfectly centered in the drum.  The guage also measures the diameter of the drum, and then sets the shoes to the correct diameter so that the entire surface of the shoe contacts the drum.

I don't think there is any way to do this by "feel", as the only thing you can feel is drag.  You cannot tell by feel if just the heel or toe of the shoe is dragging, or the whole shoe.  I'm not sure how a "dummy drum" as mentioned would be of much use, unless it is turned to the same diameter as the "actual drum".  And it's likely that all of the drums are different from each other if they have ever been turned in the past.

The front brakes have the same major and minor adjustment as the rear brakes, even though there are two brake cylinders on the fronts.  Not sure what Elmo54 was refering to when he said "you wont have the problem of adjusting a anchor pin like on the rear".  Maybe the '55 is different, but on the '50 the front shoes are held in place with an eccentric anchor pin just like the rear shoes...

'50 front brakes and the Ammco guage:


'50 rear brakes:


Pete

Pete

[elmo]

Virge   they also used what was called a dummy brake drum it had slots in it so you could use a feeler guage to adjust the clearance with the drum on . I made my own by cutting slots in a spare drum that i had . you should only need one for the rear brakes , as the front are dual cylinder and you wont have the problem of adjusting a anchor pin like on the rear

[virge55]

Happy new year to all .
can anyone help with the adjustment with these brakes on my 55 savoy? after a full brake rebuild and finally gettin all the air out of the lines AND stoppin the leaks(oops) and reading the tech in the books both say you need a brake anchor gauge or spindle grinder to set these up.
now i've neither of these so was wondering if anyone has got round it some way? we have had a few ideas but would like to see if there is a tried and tested "cheat" out there that only y'all know of!!
thanks